Padres trade Kyle Blanks to Athletics

The Padres' Kyle Blanks practices his swing move outside the batting cage during pre-game activities for a baseball game against the Kansas City Royals on Monday, May 5, 2014, in San Diego. Blanks was called up today from Triple-A El Paso as veteran Xavier Nady was designated for assignment.

/ (AP Photo/Lenny Ignelzi)

The Padres' Kyle Blanks practices his swing move outside the batting cage during pre-game activities for a baseball game against the Kansas City Royals on Monday, May 5, 2014, in San Diego. Blanks was called up today from Triple-A El Paso as veteran Xavier Nady was designated for assignment.

The Padres' Kyle Blanks practices his swing move outside the batting cage during pre-game activities for a baseball game against the Kansas City Royals on Monday, May 5, 2014, in San Diego. Blanks was called up today from Triple-A El Paso as veteran Xavier Nady was designated for assignment. (/ (AP Photo/Lenny Ignelzi))

Kyle Blanks’ injury-filled and, at times, tantalizing tenure with the Padres came to an end Thursday as the Athletics acquired him for minor league outfielder Jake Goebbert and either a player to be named later or cash considerations.

Goebbert will head to Triple-A El Paso as a left-handed-hitting 26-year-old with no service time. Blanks, meanwhile, has accrued more than four years of it since the Padres summoned him to the majors in 2009.

Blanks will join the A’s in Cleveland on Friday. The right-handed hitter is expected to see time at first base, designated hitter and the outfield.

At the plate, the A’s are welcoming a .228 career big-league hitter who’s flashed significant power, albeit in limited stretches; over the last 4 ½ seasons, Blanks spent 361 days on the disabled list with elbow, shoulder and foot injuries.

“He’s been injured a lot, and he’s shown some good things - and I think it’s still in there,” said Padres General Manager Josh Byrnes. “It’s just that, at this point, where he is on the service clock, we decided to trade back, so to speak, for a guy who has no service time and is in Triple-A.”

Kyle Blanks' Padres career

Drafted: by the Padres in the 42nd round of the 2004 draft

Debuted: June 19, 2009

Traded to the A's: May 15, 2014

AB | HR | RBI | BB | SO | BA | OBP | SLG

715 | 28 | 98 | 71 | 242 | .228 | .310 | .401

Originally signed by the Astros as a 13th-round selection in the 2009 draft, Goebbert had hit .257 with six home runs and 25 RBIs for Triple-A Sacramento this season. A 6-foot, 205-pound product of Northwestern University, he has hit .278 with 59 home runs and 343 RBIs over parts of six minor league seasons. He has primarily played the corner outfield spots, in addition to 15 career games at first base.

“We’ve seen him when he was with Houston and now with Oakland,” Byrnes said of Goebbert. “We think there’s a chance to hit. He gets on base, has power, can play a few positions.”

Goebbert has not been added to the 40-man roster, meaning that he comes with six years of club control. Blanks’ departure, meanwhile, has shaved the roster to 38 players, though Byrnes felt there was sufficient depth behind starting first baseman Yonder Alonso.

Tommy Medica, currently in Triple-A, headlines the group of reserves, with catchers Yasmani Grandal and Rene Rivera also capable of filling in at first.

None, however, can match the sheer physical presence of Blanks, whose 6-foot-6 frame suggested out-sized potential. The Padres’ 2008 Minor League Player of the Year, Blanks burst onto the major league scene the following year, hitting .250 with 10 home runs in 148 at-bats.

His frame has since betrayed him. He set a career-high by playing in 88 big-league games last season, while hitting .243 with eight home runs and 35 RBIs. He avoided salary arbitration in January, signing a one-year, $988,000 deal with the Padres.

He did not make the roster this spring, instead opening the year with El Paso, where he hit nine home runs. He earned a call-up May 6 and proceeded to go 2-for-10 over five games.

Tuesday, Carlos Quentin returned from the disabled list and the Padres optioned Blanks to El Paso for, it would turn out, the final time.

“The coaches and I, over the years, have great things to say about Kyle’s work ethic,” said Padres manager Bud Black. “He spent some time on the disabled list that was unfortunate during the early part of his career, that I think probably had a little bit of an impact on his progress. But I can’t say enough good things about him as a Padre.”